I usually avoid the news, especially the bad news (which seems to be most of it), but the family that drowned in Hagg Lake was something I couldnt not read about. It was almost MY family not even two weeks ago. Not Hagg Lake, but the Columbia River. I had been debating about posting the details, but here goes: We went to the same beach we always go to, and brought Xolani and his friend. For some reason, I had been extra nervous about drowning all summer, at rivers, at lakes, everywhere. Instead of sitting on the sand while he played in the water, I was standing in the water with him and his friend. He was going a deeper than we had agreed, I was telling him to come back, but he still was only in about 2-2.5 ft deep water. And then he took one more step and disappeared under it. This was only about 10 ft from the shore! I can still see his little buggy eyes and frantic hands under the water. I ran over the few feet and went to grab him and lift him out - he couldnt touch, but surely I would. As my foot slipped off an edge and I went under water too I realized we were in the RIVER. The COLUMBIA. Deep, strong current, and only gets worse, not better. I could keep Xolani from floating away, but I couldnt bring his head above the water. I could barely keep mine above the water. I couldnt climb back up on the shallow area either. Jennifer Sanders saw us from the shore and came running, with all her clothes on, to save us. She reached out her arm to grab my hand, and the edge of the dropoff caved under her feet and she slipped in too. At that point, I felt fairly certain we all were going to die, and started screaming for help. There were people nearby, but no one turned their heads. I think compared to the river, my screams were silent. I am not sure how, but Jen managed to not only lift Xolani up so he could take a breath, but then throw him to to the shallower water (after a few failed attempts to get up on it herself...there was something really weird/scary about the current in that area, it felt like I had rocks attached to my feet, plus the ledge kept caving out every time we tried to climb on it). No longer holding onto a 40lb weight with one arm, Jen and I were able to swim up and save ourselves after that. So I see how a whole family could die in Hagg lake. The news may not know what happened, but I do: The 3 yr old went under. They died trying to find him in the murky water. Because if your kid is drowning, you dont give up, even if you die trying. Had this all happened 15 mins earlier, when Jen ran back to the car to get something, or had she been answering a text on her phone when this happened and looking down, I wouldnt have been able to save Xolani, but I wouldnt have been able to let go of him either, and we both would be dead in the ocean. Beware of Sauvie Island dropoffs! The water is low right now, which means the dropoffs are closed to shore! There was no color change that I saw, we were still in the area where the waves were. Wow. That may have been my longest post ever.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 07:22:13 +0000
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